IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Shanter Way, AYR, KA7 4PF

Viewed from the B7024.

The old parish church of Alloway was built in the 16th century and was used regularly till 1691, and occasionally until the 1730s. From 1740 to at least 1752 it was used as a school building but then became ruinous. Robert Burns knew it in this condition, commemorating it in 1790 in his famous poem “Tam o’ Shanter”. In 1786, Ayr Council had the kirk building re-roofed to be a school again for several years. The graveyard remained in use till the 20th century. (Source: Monumental Inscriptions of Carrick, Ayrshire)

A fine symbolic stone in Alloway Auld Kirkyard, depicting the blacksmith trade. On the north side: Here lyes the corps of John Tennant, smith at Brigend of Doon, who died in June 1740, aged 55 years. The east side shows a crown, which was the trade symbol of the hammermen, above a skull and crossed bones and an hour glass. The scene below shows a blacksmith at work shoeing a horse, with some tools of the trade including pincers, a hammer and a horse shoe. The west side and both edges show that this is also the burial place of John Tennant, late miller in Glaston Mill who died 7 April 1728, aged 93 years, his wife Jean McTaggart who died 12 February 1723 aged 54 years, their offspring Charles, John, William, Archibald & Patrick their only sons. John at Bridge of Doon, Charles aged 22 years, William died by watter at once, 13 November 1742, aged 18 years. (Source: pre-1855 Monumental Inscriptions for Carrick, Ayrshire)

The grave is in the kirkyard of the Auld Kirk. Robert Burns’s father, William, died in 1784, aged 63. His mother, Agnes Brown, died in 1890 at age 88. She was buried in Bolton churchyard, East Lothian. The inscription on the other side of the stone reads: “O YE, whose cheek the tear of pity stains, Draw near with pious reverence and attend! Here lie the loving husband’s dear remains, The tender father, and the generous friend; The pitying heart that felt for human wo! The dauntless heart that fear’d no human pride! The friend of man, to vice alone a foe, “For ev’n his failings lean’d to virtue’s side.”

Robert Burns used the Auld Kirk as the setting for his well-known tale, "Tam O'Shanter". The hero passes some grisly places before approaching the Auld Kirk. "Kirk Alloway was drawing nigh, Whare ghaists and houlets nightly cry". Tam viewed a scene of "Warlocks and witches in a dance", with music provided by the devil himself. "A winnock bunker in the east, There sat Auld Nick in shape o' beast." To find out what else Tam saw, you'll need to read the poem!

In the early 19th century, fresh bodies were of great value to the university medical schools of the time. Grave robbers used to dig up newly buried bodies and sell them to the schools. Presumably, not too many questions were asked about the source of the corpses. One way to deter the grave robbers was to protect the coffin with a mort-safe. This heavy iron frame was buried with the coffin, and then removed when the body had decayed enough to be of no value. Mort-safes could be used over again and again. To see Ayr’s other surviving mort-safe, look at Image

Alloway Auld Kirk in Alloway Ayrshire made famous by Robert Burns in Tam o' Shanter

A fine, albeit moss-covered, stone in Alloway Auld Kirkyard. The inscription at the foot of the stone, which is partly submerged, reads: NO MAN PUTTETH HIS HAND TO THE PLOUGH & LOOKING BACK IS FIT FOR THE KING DOM OF GOD The inscription on the other side of the stone reads: HERE LYES THE CORPS OF JOHN McLURE IN NETHERTOUN OF ALLOUAY WHO DIED JULY 1753 AGED 37 ALSO MARY JOHN & MARY McLURES HIS CHILDREN

This board is on the churchyard wall and gives visitors a flavour of the atmosphere of the famous Burns site. To see some lesser known features of "Tam O'Shanter", look at Image and Image